The Role of Self-Awareness in Predicting the Level of Emotional Regulation Difficulties among Faculty Members

University faculty members seek to regulate emotions to achieve professional and social goals in the work environment. The process of emotion regulation is influenced by self-awareness, as self-awareness is an important predictor of self-regulation, and the outcomes of the self-regulation process depend, in part, on the level of self-awareness. The purpose of the present paper was to examine whether or not self-awareness is used to predict emotional regulation difficulties among faculty members. The current quantitative study was designed using a survey research design. The participants comprised 172 faculty members from Philadelphia University in Jordan, the Arab Open University in Jordan, and Al Falah University in the U.A.E. Data were collected using the Self-Awareness Scale (SAS) and Emotional Regulation Difficulties Scale (ERDS). The researchers revealed that increasing the self-awareness subscale (self-critical) decreases the non-acceptance of emotional responses. The researchers also found that when there is an increase in the self-awareness subscale (desire for realistic awareness), there is a tendency toward lower levels of non-acceptance of emotional responses and difficulties engaging in goal-directed. Researchers also came to that an increase in the self-awareness subscale (self-reflection) decreases the non-acceptance of emotional responses, difficulties engaging in goal-directed and impulse control difficulties. The researchers concluded there is a need to work on university faculties' self-awareness and emotional regulation to balance realistic awareness and emotional responses related to task engagement and control difficulties. Based on the findings, it is concluded that it is necessary to pay attention to enhancing self-awareness and emotion regulation among faculty members in general and conduct more scientific studies on emotional regulation difficulties to examine their relationship with other variables. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-017 Full Text: PD

Mediators of the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Alcohol Use

Mindfulness is the act of paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p.4). Mindfulness training has been shown to produce beneficial effects for a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms, including substance abuse (Baer, 2003). The current study attempted to test a working model of how mindfulness can enhance psychological well-being developed by Hölzel et al. (2011) within the specific context of alcohol use. It was hypothesized that higher levels of mindfulness would be associated with less alcohol use and less alcohol-related problems experienced. In addition, this study investigated whether this predicted inverse relationship between mindfulness and alcohol use is mediated by attention regulation, emotion regulation, body awareness, and change in perspective on the self. One hundred fifty-seven Eastern Illinois University students participated in the study through an online survey. The results of the study demonstrated that mindfulness was, indeed, negatively correlated with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. In addition, mindfulness was positively correlated with attention regulation, emotion regulation, body awareness, and change in perspective on the self. Subsequent analyses demonstrated that emotion regulation fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and alcohol use, while attention regulation, body awareness, and change in perspective on the self did not act as mediators. Clinical implications of this research, limitations, and suggestions for future studies were discussed

Anxiety and Social Withdrawal Among Children: Associations with Emotion Awareness and Emotion Regulation Strategy Use at the Intra- and Interpersonal Levels

Anxiety and social withdrawal are two frequently experienced internalizing conditions among children. These early-onset challenges are associated with numerous maladaptive outcomes in the academic, social, and psychological domains (Levitt & Merrill, 2009; Long, 2018; Sanchez et al., 2018; Shernoff et al., 2017). While identifying anxious and socially withdrawn children in the classroom is difficult as symptoms generally occur internally, distinguishing between the conditions is perhaps more challenging as the two are closely associated, oftentimes overlapping constructs (Barzeva et al., 2019; Rubin et al., 2009). Particularly, it is unclear whether anxiety and social withdrawal are similarly or differently associated with key emotion regulation-related processes. While ineffective regulation of emotions is consistently linked to the development and maintenance of internalizing conditions in children (Bender et al., 2012; Kranzler et al., 2016; Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002; Sendzik et al., 2017), the association to key components is much less understood especially at the interpersonal level. To address this challenge, the researcher examined anxiety and social withdrawal through the lens of emotion awareness and emotion regulation strategy use at the intra- and interpersonal levels. Study participants were 398 fourth- and fifth-grade children (M age = 10.3) and their classroom teachers. Self-report was used to assess anxiety, intra- and interpersonal emotion awareness, as well as the use of intrapersonal adaptive and maladaptive strategies. Teacher-report was used to measure social withdrawal while peer-report was used to assess classmates’ use of interpersonal supportive and unsupportive strategies. In general, anxiety related to intrapersonal emotion regulation-related processes while social withdrawal related to interpersonal processes. More specifically, anxiety significantly associated with poorer intrapersonal emotion awareness and greater use of adaptive strategies to regulate one\u27s own emotions. Comparatively, social withdrawal significantly associated with poorer awareness of others’ emotions and less use of interpersonal supportive and unsupportive emotion regulation strategies. The researcher’s findings indicate anxiety and social withdrawal can be distinguished from each other regarding their associations with intra- verses interpersonal emotion awareness and emotion regulation strategy use. The information may assist teachers, school psychologists, and other school personnel in more timely and accurate identification and treatment (e.g., emotion regulation skill building) for children experiencing these challenges in the classroom setting

Emotion regulation after traumatic brain injury: distinct patterns of sympathetic activity during anger expression and recognition

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To assess psychological and psychophysiological correlates of emotion recognition and anger experience in participants with traumatic brain injury (TBI). PARTICIPANTS: Twenty participants with TBI presenting with anger problems and 22 healthy controls. PROCEDURES: Participants were administered tasks assessing emotion recognition (The French Evaluation Task) and anger expression (Anger regulation task). The latter, designed to elicit and modulate anger feelings through verbal recall of a self-experienced event, involved 4 recall conditions that followed a resting period: neutral, uninstructed anger recall, anger rumination, and anger reappraisal. MEASURES: Skin conductance levels during recall and a self-report anger questionnaire between each condition. RESULTS: In the TBI and control groups, self-reported anger was similarly modulated across emotion regulation conditions. However, only in the TBI group did skin conductance levels significantly increase between neutral and uninstructed anger recall conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired emotion regulation in TBI participants could be related to increased levels of autonomic system activity during emotional experience. However, anger feelings in these participants can also be modulated with the use of emotion regulation strategies, including adaptive strategies such as reappraisal. Thus, promoting awareness and management of physiological activation and encouraging cognitive restructuring can be recommended as a component of interventions targeting emotion regulation in TBI patients

We have so much in common: Does shared variance between emotion-related constructs account for relationships with self-injury?

Background: Emotion regulation, distress tolerance, experiential avoidance, and both positive and negative affect have all been linked to NSSI. These constructs are proposed to be distinct; however, they share conceptual similarities. For example, some people may regulate emotions by avoiding stressful situations, conflating emotion regulation and avoidance. We tested if constructs linked with NSSI (when studied in isolation), remain significant correlates of NSSI when considered alongside related constructs (with which they may share variance). Method: University students (n = 487, M = 21.36, SD = 2.48, 74% female, 40% with lived experience of self-injury) completed well-validated self-report measures of NSSI, difficulties with emotion regulation, distress tolerance, experiential avoidance, emotional reactivity, positive and negative affect, and alexithymia. Results: As predicted, emotion-related constructs were generally highly correlated. Additionally, with the exception of lack of emotional awareness, all constructs were significantly associated with NSSI in bivariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, associations were substantially attenuated. Positive affect, distress tolerance, and experiential avoidance were negatively associated with NSSI, and limited emotion regulation strategies was positively associated with NSSI. No other constructs were uniquely associated with NSSI and exploratory factor analyses indicated that all constructs loaded onto a single factor Limitations: Cross-sectional design rules out temporal sequencing. Conclusion: Findings raise the possibility that associations between some emotion-related constructs (e.g., alexithymia) and NSSI may reflect variance shared with other emotion-related constructs. If true, this will have important theoretical, clinical, and measurement implications for NSSI research

Difficulties in emotion regulation and risky driving among Lithuanian drivers

Background: Risky driving is a common cause of traffic accidents and injuries. However, there is no clear evidence of how difficulties in emotion regulation contribute to risky driving behavior, particularly in small post-Soviet countries. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and self-reported risky driving behavior in a sample of Lithuanian drivers. Methods: A total of 246 nonprofessional Lithuanian drivers participated in a cross-sectional survey. Difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004), and risky driving behavior was assessed using the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ; Lajunen et al. 2004). Results: Males scored higher than females in aggressive violations and ordinary violations. Females scored higher for the nonacceptance of emotional responses, whereas males had more difficulties with emotional awareness than females. More difficulties in emotion regulation were positively correlated with driving errors, lapses, aggressive violations, and ordinary violations for both males and females. Structural equation modeling showed that difficulties in emotion regulation explained aggressive and ordinary violations more clearly than lapses and errors. When controlling for interactions among the distinct regulation difficulties, difficulties with impulse control and difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior predicted risky driving. Furthermore, nonacceptance of emotional responses and limited access to emotion regulation strategies were related to less violations and more driving errors. Conclusion: Emotion regulation difficulties were associated with the self-reported risky driving behaviors of Lithuanian drivers. This provides useful hints for improving driver training programs in order to prevent traffic injuries

The Relationships between Spontaneous Self-affirmation and Emotion Regulation and Coping Strategies

To cope with challenges, some people spontaneously boost the self by affirming their core values; this is known as spontaneous self-affirmation. The current study was designed to test the relationships between individual differences in spontaneous self-affirmation (SSA; Harris et al., 2019) and other ways of coping with challenges and threats (e.g., emotion regulation skills, coping skills). Seventy-seven participants completed an online survey that included the SSA measure, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (two facets: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression; Gross et al., 2003), Coping Skills (Hamby et al., 2013), Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (Brown et al., 2003), and Trait Self-Control (Tangney et al., 2004). SSA was significantly and positively correlated with cognitive reappraisal, coping skills, and trait self-control. Because the SSA is a new measure, this study adds evidence that spontaneously self-affirming is related to but distinct from other ways of coping with threats

Field independence, somatic awareness, autonomic arousal, and emotion differentiation as predictors of emotion regulation

A thread of the growing literature on emotion and emotion regulation aims at understanding the psychological processes an individual uses to regulate emotion, and at identifying what characteristics and abilities are conducive to efficient emotion regulation. These studies have produced a growing list of emotion regulation correlates suggesting that a quality of self-awareness, the tendency to be attentive to self rather than surroundings, the ability to understand one’s feelings precisely, and recently the very specific ability to put exact words to one’s feelings are all positive predictors of emotion regulation. This study investigated whether the qualities described by earlier emotion regulation models were, in fact, related to the construct of field independence, a cognitive processing style characterized by the ability to separate and categorize information. We hypothesized that this style might result in an increased ability to describe sensations of autonomic arousal which would in turn predict more precise descriptions of emotional states. We hypothesized that this ability to differentiate emotional states would lead to improved overall emotion regulation as well as some of its subcomponents. In addition, we were interested in whether baseline body awareness was related to autonomic arousal and emotion regulation. The hypothesized mediational model was not supported; because our measure of autonomic arousal assessed overall intensity rather than differentiation of symptoms, the data could not adequately test the overall model. However, both baseline body awareness and field independence were found to independently predict improved overall emotion regulation and/or some of its subcomponents. The relationship between field independence and emotion regulation led us to examine the literature on executive attention which we discuss in the context of field independence. In addition, we discuss the implications of meditative practice on both constructs. Our results suggest that there may be multiple routes to emotion regulation. Future directions might include a cross-sectional comparison of multiple components of attention with field dependence/independence and with emotion regulation in adults. In addition, functional neuroimaging studies comparing field independence and components of attention would be of interest

Emotional intelligence in Belva Plain’s Blessings

Everyone faces emotional challenges. It can influence their behavior since emotion is an incredibly strong drive on human behavior. This powerful emotion can lead someone to take actions that he might not regularly do, or keep away from the conditions that someone enjoys. Emotionality is related to a range of psychological phenomena, including mood, temperament, personality, and motivation. The ability to control emotions in the self and others is called Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI can be found not only in real life but in literary works such as a novel. In line with that interesting topic, this article, therefore, explores the EI and the implications of EI of the main character in Belva Plain’s Blessings. In analyzing the novel, the study applied a psychological approach. The technique of analyzing the data was a qualitative descriptive method. The findings of the study showed Jennie’s EI, that is composed of emotional self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, and social skills. Furthermore, the results revealed the implications of Jennie’s EI; she becomes successful because she is good at self-regulation and motivation. She is also good at self-awareness, empathy and social skills, so she has better interpersonal relations

Emotion regulation difficulties in boys with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder and the relation with comorbid autism traits and attention deficit traits

Previous research has pointed towards a link between emotion dysregulation and aggressive behavior in children. Emotion regulation difficulties are not specific for children with persistent aggression problems, i.e. oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder (ODD/CD), children with other psychiatric conditions, such as autism spectrum disorders or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, have emotion regulation difficulties too. On a behavioral level some overlap exists between these disorders and comorbidity is high. The aim of this study was therefore twofold: 1) to examine emotion regulation difficulties in 65 boys with ODD/CD in comparison to a non-clinical control group (NC) of 38 boys (8–12 years) using a performance measure (Ultimatum Game), parent report and self-report, and 2) to establish to what extent emotion regulation in the ODD/CD group was correlated with severity of autism and/or attention deficit traits. Results on the Ultimatum Game showed that the ODD/CD group rejected more ambiguous offers than the NC group, which is seen as an indication of poor emotion regulation. Parents also reported that the ODD/CD group experienced more emotion regulation problems in daily life than the NC group. In contrast to these cognitive and behavioral measures, self-reports did not reveal any difference, indicating that boys with ODD/CD do not perceive themselves as having impairments in regulating their emotions. Emotional decision making within the ODD/CD group was not related to variation in autism or attention deficit traits. These results support the idea that emotion dysregulation is an important problem within ODD/CD, yet boys with ODD/CD have reduced awareness of this